American Century Companies Inc. Raises Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 34.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 95,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 24,198 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.2%

BX stock opened at $151.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $194.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.00. The company has a market capitalization of $111.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total transaction of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 324 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,741,192.84. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 2,950,751 shares of company stock valued at $79,050,138 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.